1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is concerned with a flush valve which is rendered operative in response to activation by an electronic sensor. More particularly, the invention is concerned with an electronic sensor and solenoid valve contained in a single unit for operating a flush valve.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The invention is concerned with improving the operation of a diaphragm-type flush valve which is rendered operative by means of an external handle. In a heretofore known conventional flush valve of the diaphragm-type operated by an external handle, there is a water inlet and a water outlet on a conventional flush valve, the outlet being connected to a device such as a urinal which is to be flushed; and the inlet and outlet are separated by a diaphragm so as to provide two chambers, an upper and a lower chamber, filled with water at supply line pressure.
At the start of a flushing operation, the external handle is depressed and operates an operating stem which pushes against the stem of an auxiliary valve and thereby tilts the head of the auxiliary valve off from its auxiliary valve seat. As soon as the stem of the auxiliary valve is tilted, the upper chamber releases a quantity of water into the outlet. After tilting of the stem and moving of the water from the upper chamber into the outlet, the diaphragm is completely, moved off its seat, which diaphragm normally closes off the outlet of the flush valve, and then the inlet and lower chamber provide for a continuous flow of a quantity of water from the lower chamber into the outlet of the flush valve. This takes place because when water from the upper chamber is released into the flush valve outlet, pressure in the upper chamber is reduced, and pressure in the lower chamber forces the diaphram in an upward direction so as to connect the inlet and outlet directly and water flows from the inlet directly into the outlet. In one of the conventional well-known type of flush valves, the diaphragm rises upward until its stroke is halted by contact with the valve cover or a regulating screw in the valve cover. At this time, the valve is now fully opened and the auxiliary valve is perpendicular and reseated onto the axuiliary valve seat.
When the handle is released, the flushing action continues until enough water enters the upper chamber through a bypass orifice in the diaphragm to refill the upper chamber and equalize the pressure to that of the lower chamber. The area of the diaphragm subject to pressure on the upper side of the diaphragm is greater than the area subject to pressure on the lower side. Therefore once the pressure has been equalized, the diaphragm begins to slowly descend to the main valve seat and closes off the flow of water and completes the cycle.
A further object of the invention is to provide a solenoid valve and a solenoid valve body therefor for a sensor operated flush valve to render the flush valve operable.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a replacement operating mechanism for a standard manufacturers flush valve and replace the conventional cover with a novel replacement cover and control module containing a solenoid valve and a sensor module, and a solenoid valve controlled by the solenoid and which cooperates with the cover and the remainder of the conventional flush valve.
To these ends the invention consists in the provision of a sensor operated flush valve, such as for a urinal or a water closet, in which the flush valve has a valve body with a water inlet and a water outlet, and a valve body cover for the valve body, and cooperating connection elements on the valve body and the housing, respectively for holding the housing to the valve body in a water tight fitting relationship while permitting separation thereof; a diaphragm held in a fixed relationship between the valve body and the cover for separating the inlet from the outlet, and by-pass means associated with the diaphragm for permitting water under pressure supplied to the water inlet to pass into the cover; a solenoid valve associated with and an electronic component casing associated with the cover; received within the cover a solenoid housed within the component casing, a solenoid plunger associated with the solenoid and the solenoid valve; the cover having a through opening communicating with the solenoid valve, the solenoid valve including a first water passageway communicating with the interior of the flush valve passageway communicating with the outlet; the solenoid plunger cooperating with the solenoid valve to close and open the first and second passageways to cause water to flow from the first to the second passageway upon activation of the plunger and to close off the first and second passageways from each other upon deactivation of the solenoid; and an activator responsive to an external energization to activate the solenoid to move the solenoid plunger away from the solenoid valve and case the water to flow from the first passageway into the second passageway and into the outlet.
The invention also contemplates a cover and a control module housing for a conventional flush valve which is to replace the conventional cover. The cover and control module housing according to the invention includes a sensing device and a hand-free operating mechanism therefor.
With the novel cover and control module according to the invention, the flush valve is associated with an infra-red sensing device and a solenoid valve which is rendered operative in response thereto to operate a solenoid for controlling the flushing operations. The infra-red light sensor includes a transmitter for directing an infra-red light pulse towards an object, such as an individual within a particular predetermined range, and a receiving device for receiving or capturing reflections of the transmitted light pulse reflected from the object or individual within the predetermined range. In addition, circuitry is provided for converting the reflected pulse into controlled electronic signals to open and close a solenoid valve so as to operate the conventional flush valve without the use of an external handle.
It is further within the scope of the invention to control the solenoid and the solenoid valve by external means separate and apart from the infra-red sensor mechanism or in conjunction with the infra-red sensor mechanism. For this purpose, a separate transmitter can be used to transmit a signal from an external source to the electrical circuitry within the control module for operation thereof so that no external wiring goes to the control module. Moreover, the control module is operable with twenty-four volts A.C. which is connected to twenty-four volts D.C. or less and using milliamperes with small power requirements so that should a fault in the circuitry occur, there is no possibility of external shock to a user of the urinal or other device to which the flush valve is attached. This is an important safety feature over the earlier heretofore known devices.